U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) says that execution would be an appropriate punishment for Private Bradley Manning in the wake of charges that he helped leak classified military documents to the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

Michigan-based radio station WHMI reports on what Rogers had to say on the matter in an interview he conducted with the outlet on Monday:

The Brighton Republican sits on the House Intelligence Committee and told WHMI that Private Bradley Manning appears to be guilty of treason in time of war, which is a capital crime. He also criticized what he called a “culture of disclosure” for encouraging someone like Manning into thinking that the release of such sensitive information was a good thing.“I argue the death penalty clearly should be considered here,” explained Rogers. “He clearly aided the enemy to what may result in the death of U.S. soldiers or those cooperating. If that is not a capital offense, I don’t know what is.”

Manning is currently awaiting possible trial in solitary confinement at the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia. The AP reports:

Manning is also charged with illegally obtaining more than 150,000 classified State Department cables and leaking more than 50 of them. It’s not clear from the charges, though, whether the allegedly diverted documents were those published on the WikiLeaks site.